Moving Forward
by Nytel
Summary: Kara and Lee are finally living their lives the way they want. Spoilers: General season 3 and a tiny bit of speculation for Maelstorm. Written for a fic challenge with the prompt, Lee finds out about Kara's Leegasm with Gaius.


**Spoilers:** General season 3 and a tiny bit of speculation for Maelstorm

**Moving Forward**

When Kara walked into her quarters after an eight hour long maintenance shift, she was more than a little surprised to find both her husband and her son waiting for her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked Lee quietly as she toed off her boots and walked over to where he was feeding Sean on the bed.

He gave her a heartwarming smile. "The trial finished early so I picked him up from daycare."

Kara smiled back as all of the weariness caused by her long day seemed to fade away. She sat down on the bed behind Lee and placed her chin on his shoulder, looking over at their son as he sucked happily on his bottle. With one hand she reached around Lee and gently ran her fingers over Sean's forehead, barely moving the wisps of blonde hair.

She still couldn't believe how absolutely happy she was. After years of hardship everything had fallen into place. It had been a long and difficult journey to get to where she was, but she'd endure it all again if it guaranteed her the life she had.

She watched for a few more minutes until she broke the silence. "Did you win?" She kept her voice quiet, knowing that right after his nightly feeding Sean would drift off and sleep through the night.

Lee grinned as he turned to place a kiss on her cheek. "Yeah."

She smiled in return. Years ago she would have laughed if anyone had told her that Lee would become the fleet's top lawyer, but now she knew better. Law was his true passion. Kara was so glad that he'd found that. She'd never seen Lee more happy and alive than he was now.

She felt a small gush of pride; Lee's new job wasn't the only thing making him happy. Somehow, after all they'd been through, both together and apart, they'd been able to work everything out. It made being captured by the cylons bearable in the end. Lee had thought she was dead, and she'd thought that she would never see him again. That despair and grief was what they had both needed to clarify their feelings, and to make them realize what they really wanted.

The moment she'd stepped foot back on Galactica and caught sight of Lee, she knew that things would be different. They'd finally managed to _talk_ about everything between them. For the first time in their lives, they were able to be completely honest with each other. She still remembered how shocked she had been to realize that the depths of Lee's feelings matched her own, but she thought he might have been even more surprised to realize the same thing.

Only weeks later they'd gotten married. Lee was bound and determined not to waste another second, and she was more than willing to agree with him. Just over nine months later they'd welcomed Sean into their lives. Now they were a happy family, and Kara wouldn't have it any other way.

"How was your shift?" Lee asked softly.

She sighed and leaned against him, her chest pressing firmly against his back. "Long."

Lee chuckled quietly. "Just long?"

"Mmm hmm," she responded as she turned her face into Lee's neck. Her lips broke into a grin over his skin as she felt him shiver at the vibrations her mumbled words had caused. "I'm going to go shower."

"Okay. I'll finish feeding him and then put him to bed."

"Sounds good," she replied, moving her head to kiss Lee lightly on the cheek, but her lips didn't land there because Lee turned his head just in time to capture them with his own.

She pulled away, simply smiling and shaking her head. Lee grinned up at her and she felt her stomach do a little flip. She was amazed that he still had such an effect on her.

After a quick but much needed shower, Kara exited the small bathroom to see Lee placing Sean in his crib. His actions were so tender; it made her love him even more, if that was possible.

Lee didn't seem to notice her, because he remained by the crib, looking over the edge and watching Sean sleep. Kara watched them both as she pulled off her towel and slipped into a pair of underwear and some tanks.

It wasn't until she stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist that he noticed she was there. He jumped a little bit, but it was cute.

"Coming to bed?"

He nodded as he turned around in her arms. "Of course." He leaned down and kissed her properly. She felt her body beginning to react like it always did. She stifled a moan and pulled back.

"We can't," she said quietly, looking around Lee to where their son was sleeping.

Lee sighed in defeat. "I know."

They walked over to their bed, turning off the light on the way. As Kara pulled back the covers and moved to slip in, Lee said, "Do you think Cally can watch Sean for us one night next week?"

Kara grinned predatorily. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind."

He rolled his eyes and slipped in beside her. "You have a dirty mind."

She snorted. "And you don't?"

"Point taken. But that's not why I was asking."

Kara's gaze turned genuinely curious. "Then why were you asking?"

"Colonial Day," Lee said simply as he rolled onto his back and pulled Kara closer to him. "I have two tickets to the celebration and I want you to come with me."

"Oh yeah?" She asked happily.

"Yeah." He kissed her forehead softly. "It can be a date."

"Okay." The thought of some alone time with her husband was very appealing.

"Besides, I owe you for last time."

"What are you talking about?" She threaded her fingers through his hair and titled his head for another kiss. "It's not your fault that I was pregnant and missed Colonial Day last year." She smirked at him. "Well I guess it technically was your fault, but you don't owe me for it."

Lee shook his head and his eyes turned sad. "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, the first Colonial Day."

The second she realized what he was referring to her body tensed. She had tried really hard to erase that night, and the following day from her memory. "Oh," was her only response.

"I'm sorry, Kara." Lee ran his hand lightly up and down her arm. "I should never have let you leave with him. Hell, I should have told you how I felt then and it might have given us more time together."

Kara felt herself relax. She regretted the things that she'd done that night, but knowing Lee did too made her realize there was no use in feeling guilty over it anymore. "It's okay."

"No, it's not. And that's why I'm going to make it up to you."

Kara smiled at him. "Well, if you insist."

"I do."

She tucked herself in closer to Lee's side and rested her head on his chest. She was more than content to let him hold her, his fingers tracing lazy circles on her back. It was relaxing, and everything felt right. Well, almost everything…

"I didn't want to leave with Baltar," she whispered, breaking the silence.

"What?" Lee asked, his voice half-drowsy. After a second he added, "I know you regret it."

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at Lee. "Yeah, I do, but that's because I never meant to leave with him."

She could see the alarms going off in Lee's head, but before she had the time to say anything he was reacting. "You mean that bastard forced…"

"No," she said sternly, but still managing to keep her voice low. "I… I didn't think that I was leaving with Baltar."

When she was only met by a confused look on her husband's face she continued. "I thought I was leaving with you. Not that you look _anything_ like that sleaze bag, but I was drunk, and I saw what I wanted to see."

Lee's eyebrows rose in shock. "You're serious?" He questioned speculatively. "You wanted to leave with me?"

"Of course I did you frakwit. I even…" She paused, not sure if she should tell him the rest. It was probably the most embarrassing thing she'd ever done.

"You even what?" He asked curiously as he continued to stare up at her.

Kara exhaled deeply. "I even called out your name." She flopped down on the bed so that she was lying on her back beside Lee.

"You what?" Lee rolled onto his side to look down at her, but she didn't meet his gaze.

"You heard me," she stated. She was slightly embarrassed, but what she felt the most was relief over having it out in the open.

She'd been expecting some sort of restrained gloating or a smug look, so when Lee rested his forehead on her shoulder instead she was surprised.

"I was an ass." He sighed and lifted his head to look at her again. "Kara, I'm so sorry. All those things I said to you the next day… They were completely out of line then, but now that I know everything… it just makes it even worse."

She knew exactly what he was talking about and angled her head to look him directly in the eye. "Lee, it's okay."

"No," he said emphatically, "it isn't. I hate that I hurt you like that."

His voice was so sincerely apologetic that Kara felt tears beginning to well up at the corner of her eyes. "Lee, we've both done things in the past to hurt each other, things that we regret. But those are done, we can't change them." She reached out with one hand to gently caress the side of his face.

Lee leaned into her hand before turning his head to gently kiss her palm. "I know. But there is one thing I can do. I can promise that I'll never hurt you again."

"I know you won't," she replied through an emotion-clogged throat. "I'll never hurt you again either."

Lee kissed her soundly. "I know."

Looking into his eyes, she saw her own emotions reflected back at her. At one time that had been too terrifying a realization for her, and she'd run away from it, scared by the sheer intensity of what they felt for each other. Now it was everything to her, and she'd grown to not only cherish, but also respect what they had. The kind of love they shared was rare, and Kara was unbelievably grateful for her second chance at it.

"I love you," she said softly as she continued to stare into Lee's eyes.

He kissed her forehead tenderly and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around as if he never wanted to let go. "I love you too."

The End


End file.
